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A Case Study In Incoherence
How the British Broadcasting Corporation illustrates one of humanity’s fundamental cognitive limitations
Aside from fans of the sci-fi series Doctor Who, few US citizens will have heard of the British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known by its acronym BBC. Some imagine the BBC to be a source of high-quality programming; others assume it’s simply the propaganda arm of the British government. Yet others imagine it to be a truthful source of information in an increasingly duplicitous world.
None of these beliefs are wholly true, and the reason goes all the way back to the corporation’s very beginnings.
In June 1920 the UK had its first-ever civilian radio broadcast, emitted from the factory of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company located in Chelmsford, a small town approximately 40km to the north-east of London. Ordinary people were very excited by the news of this event but the government was anxious, imagining that such unlicensed broadcasts would interfere with official and military operations.
As the General Post Office was responsible for licensing all forms of communication in the UK, it quickly banned any further such civilian efforts to use the airwaves. But as popular pressure mounted, the government retreated and announced that a single…
